The Death and Life of Harry Potter
by Foz
Summary: What is happening to Harry? Is he dead or alive? What's he gonna do? And does he finally get his favourite question answered? Chapter 2 uploaded!
1. Chapter 01

"WORMTAIL!" shrieked Voldemort.

            A small balding man skidding into the chamber panting heavily, before dropping to a kneeling position in front of his Master. "Y-y-yes Master?" Wormtail gasped out between breaths.

            "I have a job for you. Give me your arm." Voldemort murmured lazily.

            The small balding man winced as he readied himself for extreme pain and offered his arm baring the dark mark. Voldemort grabbed his arm and pressed his wand against the tattoo. Smoke and the smell of burning flesh rose into the room while clocked masked figures appeared into the chambers.

            Voldemort turned to his group of followers and sneered at them. "Since your abysmal attempt to capture a mere boy and take the prophecy that I wanted. You compromised my secrecy, forcing me to show myself at the ministry and thereby making the ministry acknowledge that I am indeed back, putting people on their guard against me.

"So I am now going to make my first move against the hope of the light. Harry Potter. I am going to publicly destroy him in his home so people will lose hope right at the beginning. As you all know, the protection surrounding the boy in his home is formidable. However, I need some information. Wormtail, tell me what you know of the boy's family."

"They hate him my Lord. His cousin bullies him and his aunt and uncle barred him in his room during the first school holidays. The had numerous locks on the doors, installed a cat flap to pass food into his room and bars on his window so he couldn't escape or send and receive letters. They seem to despise anything they consider unusual."

"That is quite interesting… I had not expected that… Can anyone else verify  this?"

Another death eater spoke up. "Master, I have seen the boy return to school and every single year he looks like he has been starved dramatically."

"Excellent. Anyone else?"

"My Lord, my son tells me that he never goes home at the Christmas holidays, and he is always happy to stay at Hogwarts. The change of attitude is at the end of the year when he has to go home, and he looks like he is dreading it."

Voldemort looked like Christmas had come early. "This is wonderful news. The wards at the house will be weak. Do you know if the relatives are cowards?"

Wormtail spoke up again, "My Lord, I do know of the stories that Potter has told his friends that if they are threatened in anyway they run away as fast as they can."

"This is getting even better. Without the relatives at the house…" the Dark Lord murmured to himself before turning his attention to the crowd again. "McNair! Get as many large dark creatures as you can ready for mobilising in two days. Go NOW!" he shouted at one of the clocked figures who disapparated immediately.

"The rest of you, I want as many people who hate Potter. Not merely dislike him, but actually want to see him dead. My methods for bypassing the wards require utmost hate and loathing. Get people from school, recruits, everyone who wants to see the death of the blasted boy. I _will_ succeed this time, and no one is going to stop me. GO! We attack in two days!"

The death eaters disappeared leaving Voldemort and Wormtail in the chamber.  Wormtail gathered his courage before asking, "Master, why are we attacking in such a short space of time? Surely it would be better to wait longer and get a good sized group together before attacking?"

"You doubt me Wormtail? Crucio!" Voldemort lazily held the curse while the man writhed in pain on the floor. After getting bored, Voldemort lifted the curse, and then continued to answer the question. "You obviously have some mental capacity left to have come up with such an important and completely valid point. In my spying of the boy and my own surmising, he will be at his lowest point about now. No godfather to support him, and forced to live with relatives who mutually hate each other, and the chances are is that the fool Dumbledore will have cut him off from the magical world so he can't be traced. Ha! Little does he know that I know the way there. That is beside the point. As Harry is at his lowest ebb, he will not have the will to fight back, making him an easier target. Also the relatives will hate him even more as he has just arrived back, making the wards the weakest. If we wait then he will finish his grieving and be more of a threat to us.

"Now I have an extremely important role for you in this upcoming attack as you are the smallest of all my death eaters…"

Harry bolted upright, his hands over his scar which was burning in pain. Tears shed again. His bloody scar and Voldemort deceiving Harry and using him, causing Sirius to die. It just wasn't fair. Anyone and everyone was in danger because Voldemort was alive, and Harry's friends were on the higher "To Do In" list than anyone else simply for their association to him. Harry concentrated on the vision he just had. Details were slipping from him fast. An attack on him. Dark creatures, and Death Eaters. Attacking Privet Drive. Harry scrambled fast and headed for his desk. Dumbledore needed to check those wards if Voldemort thought that he could get past them. Even if it was a hoax, better safe than sorry.

After scribbling down the outline of what he could remember, Harry rolled up the parchment and tied it to Hedwig's leg before stroking the bird gently. "Take this to Dumbledore please, and then hurry back. It's lonely without you." Hedwig hooted a gentle affirmative response before taking off. Harry sat back down on his bed and looked out of the window, tears glistened down his face, his thoughts rampaging about Sirius.

            Two days later, Harry hadn't moved a muscle. Tears were still slowly glistening down his face. Harry had seen the Order change their shifts, but no one seemed to be bothered about the wards. Harry had figured that it must be a one time only spell. There was no way to strengthen or weaken it by magic, so whatever Voldemort had up his sleeve to get past them had to be good. It was just peaceful, Harry's head was slowly clearing. He had finally accepted that Sirius was dead. He wasn't going to jump out of somewhere and say it was all a prank. Sirius was gone. Gone on a one way trip to wherever wizards go when they die. Beyond that blasted veil. Tears welled up. Accepting that he had directly caused Sirius to go to the ministry to rescue himself was much harder. _Why can't it be me that dies? I don't want to suffer anymore…_were his last thoughts before Harry's scar exploded into pain, and Harry's world transformed.

            "Ah, Harry, how good of you to come and visit me." A cold humourless laugh echoed in the stone chamber. Harry ground his teeth in anger as a response. "My, my, aren't we angry today. It is of course energising for me to feel that anger and hatred being poured into me via our special bond." This infuriated Harry even further, causing Voldemort to smirk in such a way that his face was grotesquely distorted. "Excellent Harry, anyway, I have a something to show you. Follow me." Voldemort got up from his skeleton throne and headed for the double door exit. Harry was somehow forced to follow by his body gliding behind Voldemort. After twisting through multiple corridors, Harry found himself looking at a zoo. Cages and cages of wild creatures. Wild dark creatures. Basilisks, Dementors, Hairy McBoons, Acromantulas, Nundo's, Lethifolds, and their number of them was a fair size as well. Voldemort turned to Harry gesturing at the zoo. "This is going to be my main task force in attacking the world. Combined with the ever growing number of death eaters at my disposal, I am _unstoppable_. You Harry, are my first target, and you had better hurry and tell that crackpot old fool what you have seen here, because I am going to destroy this world and rebuild it as I see fit! Hurry now Harry, you don't have much time left… maybe ten minutes or so…" Voldemorts fit of demented laughter echoed around Harry as he was forcefully thrown from his vision.

            Harry gasped out in pain as his eyes shot open, his hands around his throbbing scar. Shakily, he got up and grabbed a piece of parchment, and scribbled down his vision. He was wondering how to finish the letter when he heard screams in the distance. Harry leapt to the window seeing parts of Little Whinging ablaze, dark marks shooting up in the sky everywhere. Harry scrawled on his letter at the bottom. _He's here! HURRY!_ Handing his letter to Hedwig, he told her, "Avoid those death eaters and hurry, get it to anyone I know. And Hedwig, don't come back tonight. I might not survive, and if I don't survive, I don't want you be hurt as well." Hedwig hooted, nipped his finger affectionately and swooped out of the window. 

Harry grabbed his wand and headed downstairs to find all of the Dursleys  at the front door. "RUN!" Harry yelled. The Dursleys squealed in fright and turned around. 

"Boy! What the hell going on?" Vernon demanded.

"Voldemort is coming and you're not safe, he's worked out a way to bypass the protection here. So go! Get in the car and GO! I'll fend them off here and buy you time." Harry answered impatiently.

"I've got a gun and I'll use it. There is no way I'm going to have those freaks invading my home!" Vernon sneered back.

"Uncle, we are talking about people who can change you guns and bullets into tissue paper and then use it on the toilet. RUN. They have some very nasty creatures with them."

Vernon paled and then headed for the car, towing Pertunia and Dudley before skidding out of Privet Drive into safety. A few seconds after, the rest of privet drive did the same, leaving Harry on  very quiet street, only with a faint scream breaking the silence. Harry headed down the drive and looked around for one of his guards. Cursing Mundungus Fletcher and his lucrative deals, Harry turned to go back into the house when he noticed a tabby cat that was sleeping on the garden wall. Harry in recognition of the cat poked it hard. The cat woke with a start, leaping into the air, screeching at the intrusion before turning to Harry, glancing up and down the street before transforming into Professor McGonagall.

"Mr Potter, what on earth are you doing?" she demanded furiously.

Harry simply pointed to the nearest dark mark. Professor McGonagall turned to where he was pointing, paled at the sight, winced at a scream that was not far away, before she spoke in a strained voice. "Thank you, Mr Potter, I will go and summon help." With a _pop_ she disappeared, just as a wave of coldness swept down Privet Drive. Harry darted back into the house, locked all the doors and windows before realising that the effects of the dementors were nullified in the house. Harry was about to grin at the thought before his scar exploded in pain for simply being in the same vicinity as Voldemort, so Harry grimaced instead. Heading up the stairs, Harry looked out of the window and saw a mass of death eaters, and a few acromantulas and dementors doing a double whammy hit of soul sucking and flesh eating. Voldemort stood at the front facing Harry.

"Harry Potter. Today you will– Petrificas Totalas!" Voldemort has pointed his wand and stunned the witch who had just apparated. Harry recognised McGonagall instantly. "You will not die. You are here to witness the destruction of your hero." Voldemort sneered in her face before turning back to Harry. "As I was saying, today, you will die, and the wizarding world will fail in its belief that you will somehow save them, and then without any hope, my take over will be inevitable!" Voldemort cackled before turning to his followers, "Begin the ritual. The others watch out for any foolish rescue parties. I want no casualties, I want as many witnesses of the death for Harry Potter as possible."

Most of the death eaters formed a semi circle around Voldemort, while Wormtail moved in front of Voldemort, facing the house. The death eaters lowered their hoods and Harry gasped in shock at the amount of people he recognised. Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Flint were just some of the people there. As one, the all pointed their wands at Voldemort and started chanting. A thin dark green thread from each of their wands penetrated Voldemort who started to glow the same dark green. Then Voldemort pointed his wand at Wormtail and started a different incantation. 

A green bubble surrounded Wormtail, sparking dangerously around him, and then he moved towards the house. As soon as he reached the door, the house was enveloped in bright white light. The green and white wards clashed with the sound of electric shorting out. Wormtail pointed his wand at the door and the door opened. Wormtail was inside the house! Harry realising that he needed to escape quickly, made for the window. Tentatively he push his hand against the house wards. Solid, completely solid. Harry realised the irony of this. The wards are meant to keep the bad guys out and the good guys in, thereby being the most safe method. Of course getting inside the wards was meant to be impossible.

Harry fingered his wand, this was the only way out. To fight. Harry ran to the landing and fired volley of curses at the white battling green bubble. Every single one was deflected by that accursed bubble. The bubble didn't stop what happened next.

"I-I'm sorry Harry, I didn't want this to happen. Avada Kedavra." Wormtail said softly.

The flash of green light mingled with the wards and struck Harry on his scar. A momentary burst of pain coursed through his body before his world turned black.

Voldemort was concentrating hard, beads of sweat were forming on his brow. _Hurry up Wormtail, I can't keep this up much longer!_ he thought. Over half of his power generating death eaters had collapsed due to exhaustion, and the lack of power being poured into him was now taking it's toll on keeping up the spell. Suddenly a dull ache on his forehead disappeared, the white wards vanished, the pressure on the evil shield he had erected around Wormtail lifted. Stopping the incantation, Voldemort laughed. He looked around at the twenty or so people who had come to help Harry and laughed even louder. Wormtail walked out, floating the now deceased body of Harry Potter to his master.

"Excellent Wormtail. Let us gather our people and lets go." Voldemort said excitedly. "MORSMOREDRE!" He cried out, and the final, largest dark mark rose up into the sky.  "The Boy-Who-Lived… IS NO MORE!" Voldemort cackled before disapparating with a couple of unconscious death eaters. Finally the last of Voldemorts crew disappeared leaving paralysed members of the Order of the Phoenix and Aurors on the ground. Tears were forming however.

Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was dead.


	2. Chapter 02

**Chapter 2**

"I-I'm sorry Harry, I didn't want this to happen. Avada Kedavra." Wormtail said softly.

The flash of green light mingled with the wards and struck Harry on his scar. A momentary burst of pain coursed through his body before his world turned black.

Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was dead.

Harry awoke with a start on the floor. He jumped up ready for anything, taking in his surroundings. The room had a twisted sort of look to it, as if the room he was in was real but distorted by something. The whole surroundings had a murky deep blue, green and greyish tinge, except for the thing above him, which looked like a swirling vortex of light.

            "Harry Potter," a deep voice echoed rang out from everywhere, it had power and authority behind it giving the impression that he was not to be upset, "you are going to be the death of me..."

            Harry span around trying to see where the voice came from, "Who are you?"

            "I am Fate, and you have just caused me a massive paradoxical situation. Chaos! Where in blazes are you?"

            The vortex grew brighter for a moment before a female voice spoke much more jovially, "It's Harry Potter! I knew that he would prove me right!"

            "Yes I know-" Fate responded irritably 

            "You are admitting that you got something wrong?"

            Harry was confused with their bickering… what the hell was he doing here? He remembered… Voldemort coming with his followers… creating a shield that let Wormtail enter the house… ordinary spells simply deflected off it… an unforgivable curse… the Avada Kedavra! It burst straight through and hit him… he was… dead? Harry carefully interrupted their bickering.

            "I am _never_ wrong!" declared Fate hotly.

            "Excuse me?" Harry spoke tentatively.

            "But if you got it right in the first place this would never have happened." Chaos threw back completely ignoring Harry.

            "Excuse me?" Harry spoke a little louder, his temper rising like an annoyed dragon.

            "I did not get it wrong!" Fate was in defensive mode now, his voice rising.

            "Then why did this-" Chaos was getting into full swing now, until she was interrupted.

            "EXCUSE ME! WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IN HEAVEN AND HELLS NAME IS GOING ON?"

            The two disembodied voices abruptly stopped, and then started sheepishly, "Sorry, I was just getting carried away there…" they both spoke at the same time before the vortex seemed to just glare at itself before Fate continued, "Ah yes, let me give you some background first. About two millennia ago, there was a massive army of dark wizards, and very few members of the light, so I introduced the Avada Kedavra to the light side to deal with them – execute them on the spot cleanly and it would always hit its target under most circumstances. That is why hardly anything blocks the spell, it was meant for execution.

"Of course in your case, love at its deepest did protect you, but that was not tapping into ordinary magic, but the power of love. Of course I said that if the curse hit the target they would die. 

"However, and this is the tricky part now, I said that only Riddle could kill you, however Pettigrew cast the curse on you, and so therefore, with no blocks, no protection, or anything like that, It's caused me a problem. You see you have been killed, but you cannot be killed at the same time unless it's by Voldemort."

"Bloody hell, I can't even DIE normally! Why ME?" Harry asked, banging his head on the wall near him.

"Because every so often, a maniac like Riddle comes along and someone has to stop him. That person I decided a long time ago is you."

"Why though… out of all the billions of people out there, you choose me?"

"Simple, you were the only person after Dumbledore who was born a true leader against darkness. True leaders have always been separate from the rest of the world. Look at Dumbledore; do you see him with friends or on his own? Dumbledore is a true leader, just as you are."

"Gee, great, and just who asked for my opinion?"

"You cannot change who you are. Let me prove it to you. Would you take orders off Malfoy?"

"No way."

"Why?"

"Because he isn't a leader figure, he is just a power hungry figure."

"What makes a leader figure?"

"Someone who is more concerned about his followers than himself."

"See you have just hit the nail on the head. You care about the people who follow you and the innocents that get caught in the cross fire, as does Dumbledore. Riddle and his lackeys don't."

"But it drives me insane!"

"It drives Dumbledore insane too. There is a reason why he is fond of sweets; it was how he diverted most of his insanity to stay sane. Watch him as he gets more stressed, the more different sweets he'll try."

"Okay, so that explains why me, although I'm not happy about it, but if I'm not dead and I'm not alive, then what and where am I?"

"Right now, you are in the room of remembrance at Hogwarts."

"Say what? I don't remember such as room."

"It's beneath Hogwarts, basically a funeral room, and what is going on at the moment is your funeral. We are waiting for your cremation before you can do anything."

"I'm being burned? But why?"

"It's a Wizarding tradition that Chaos introduced ages ago, in case something like this every happened… Chaos, can you explain this one, I can't explain it as well as you can."

"Sure, okay Harry; there are two realms, the Realm of the Living, and the Realm of the Dead. There is a narrow line between them, and you are on that line. What you see is the Realm of the Living, but the Realm of the Dead is trying to twist and distort it to its own image."

"That explains a lot of why this looks the why it does."

"Right, but the twist is, in case a person died but could not die, we need the body burned so that you can recreate it and animate it."

"So I'll some back to life from the ashes?"

"No, you are still stuck here… In fact the only way that you can ever return to life is a final show down with Riddle – you have to absorb your own life force that is pumping through his veins for you to come back to life. Yes Harry, Riddle cannot have a complete life until he is completely rid of you and he can claim your life force as his own, and neither can you have a complete life until you have gotten back what Riddle stole from you. You are both incomplete, relying on each other now."

"Wait a minute, if I absorb my own life force back from Volde-"

"Call him Riddle, Voldemort does not exist."

"Okay, Riddle, then does that mean that he will actually die?"

"It does indeed, with no life force, there is no life, and his spirit will finally make the jump to the Realm of the Dead."

"Fate, you planned this didn't you? You said 'neither can live while the other survives' you destined this to happen didn't you?"

"Well, I didn't have exactly this in mind…" responded Fate sheepishly.

"For some _unknown_ reason, I just don't believe you." Harry retorted.

"Okay, okay! I admit it; I had to give you a reason for not giving up."

"And that is… what?"

"If you want to live or die, you will have to battle Riddle."

"You've made my choice limited now haven't you? Was there any other thoughts other than forcing me to fight Riddle to actually bring me to this," Harry looked at his body, "pitiful existence. I would rather choose death!"

"The choice is not yours to make."

"I am _destroyed_!"

"You are _reborn_! Use your anger and hatred of Riddle and his lackeys and destroy them. Redeem yourself… or if you prefer, avenge yourself. Become my Angel of Death."

Harry liked the sound of this… get rid of Volde- no Riddle and the Death Eaters, and regain his life that was stolen from him. There had to be something… "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch, this is our last ditch attempt to wipe Riddle and the trouble he is causing off the map."

"Can I think about this? Or even better, can I talk to someone about this?"

"I can do better than that, you see, you are now part of both realms, yet you are anchored here, so you can visit both realms at any time you wish as long as you have the correct portal to go through. Your parents are waiting for you, as is Sirius Black. Before you can visit them, I must show what has happened since you passed away. Go through the entrance to your left."

Harry looked to his left and walked slowly towards the wall until he realised that because of the lighting here it was a tunnel, the ambient odd light confusing his sight. Going down the tunnel it twisted and turned going upwards all the time, Harry came across a room with a solid stone archway in the centre with two bright green symbols drawn into the floor on either side of the archway.

"This gate twists space and will lead you to other similar gates throughout the world, however you can only go you those places once visited, so you can visualise which gate you want to go through. There is just one default location that it will take you though by stepping through it, and that is the realm of the dead. However as you are anchored here, you are limited in the distance that you can travel from the gate. Go ahead travel through."

Harry stepped on one of the symbols and the gate activated, nervously, he hesitated going through, his own experience telling him that if this was going to be instant travel it was going to be horrible, just like the existing methods of wizarding travel. Harry closed his eyes and marched forward.


End file.
